PODCAST | Only Holiness Works
On today’s podcast for the Solemnity of All Saints (November 1st), we reflect on the meaning of personal holiness and how it means allowing God to grow in us so that we can be other Christs, Christ Himself.
“In order to bring peace, genuine peace, to souls; in order to transform the earth and to seek God Our Lord in the world and through the things of the world, personal sanctity is indispensable… He calls each and every one to holiness; he asks each and every one to love him: young and old, single and married, healthy and sick, learned and unlearned, no matter where they work, or where they are. There is only one way to become more familiar with God, to increase our trust in him. We must come to know him through prayer; we must speak to him and show him, through a heart to heart conversation, that we love him” (St. Josemaria Escriva; Friends of God, no. 294).
The Gospel for the Solemnity of All Saints is Jesus’s sermon on the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12). This Gospel communicates to us that the individual has to be the message that speaks about Christ to others. And, to be able to speak about Christ, our conviction and desire for holiness needs to be sustained by savoring Christ’s friendship and His message.
“It is impossible to persevere in a fervent evangelization unless we are convinced from personal experience that it is not the same thing to have known Jesus as not to have known him, not the same thing to walk with him as to walk blindly, not the same thing to hear his word as not to know it, and not the same thing to contemplate him, to worship him, to find our peace in him, as not to. It is not the same thing to try to build the world with his Gospel as to try to do so by our own lights. We know well that with Jesus life becomes richer and that with him it is easier to find meaning in everything. This is why we evangelize. A true missionary, who never ceases to be a disciple, knows that Jesus walks with him, speaks to him, breathes with him, works with him. He senses Jesus alive with him in the midst of the missionary enterprise” (Pope Francis; Evangelii Gaudium, no. 266).
We pray: Jesus, through Mary, from now on let me be no longer me but that other person you would like me to be, let me not deny you anything you ask of me…
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Rev. Peter Armenio
Rev. Peter V. Armenio was ordained a priest of the Prelature of Opus Dei in 1980. He is the author of several books published by Midwest Theological Forum, including Highlights of the Catholic Faith. He also served as President of the St. Josemaria Institute from 2006 to 2012. He has been working in campus ministry for the past 30 years and also preaches recollections and gives spiritual direction in Chicago.
